Monday, May 02, 2011

Bin Laden's Compound - Updated

Abbottabad, PakistanThe location of Osama Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad has been identified by local sources. The compound, that is described as having 4m-6m (12ft-18ft) walls and being eight times larger than other homes in the area, is to the south-east of a Pakistan Military Academy. The satellite imagery shown on this Google Map clearly matches photographs of the compound released by the Pentagon (pdf link from ABC).

Abbottbad resident and Twitter user Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual) Tweeted what he says was the location of the crashed helicopter in the American attack on the compound. The helicopter is being reported as having crashed because of 'technical failure'.

The New York Times describes the compound as being "a large mansion on the outskirts of the town center, set on an imposing hilltop and ringed by 12-foot-high concrete walls topped with barbed wire."